Paij Thorn-Brooks, senior marketing director for Mohawk hard surfaces, said that when consumers are researching hardwood flooring, they are looking for beauty, durability and easy maintenance. The company has met that challenge with its ArmorMax finish. “Mohawk has answered this challenge with our exclusive ArmorMax plus Scotchgard Protector Advanced Repel Technology,” Thorn-Brooks said.

Harry Bogner, senior vice president of hardwood, Mohawk, added that ArmorMax is a proprietary finish that is applied to the board or the flooring. “Over time, as the floor is lived on, you might see the stain begin to fade and you end up seeing raw wood. The ArmorMax finish protects the floor from having that occur as quickly as our competition. And it’s up to five times more resistant to that occurring,” he said.

According to the company, the Scotchgard technology, exclusive to Mohawk, offers hardwood the best protection against spills, stains and soil buildup. It gives new hardwood floors maximum protection by preventing most dirt and spills — even paint and permanent marker — from adhering, while also preventing day-to-day grit and grime from bonding to the floor and building up, the company reported.

“With the combination of ArmorMax and Scotchgard, we have durability and we have cleanability that is basically unmatched in the market place,” said Bogner.

He also added that ArmorMax has evolved over time. The finish was first available on solid wood oak. “What we ended up doing was expanding that to maple and hickory on solid wood, and then about a year ago we launched the same finish onto our engineered products,” said Bogner. “I think history will tell you that most likely you will see it come out on some of our other products. The natural progression for us would be to look to put it onto some of our textured products.”